Curling Club History

Curling began in Maple Ridge in 1956 when a group of local curling enthusiasts formed the Golden Ears Curling Company under the presidency of Art Emery. The Company proceeded to purchase enough land to house a four sheet Quonset-type building with four parking spaces. In 1957, the first rock was thrown.

Three of the original Board of Directors still reside in Maple Ridge, with Dale Longmuir and Frank Granger still actively involved in the Club as Master Curlers. Longmuir, affectionately known as “Tiger” managed Golden Ears for 25 of the 1st 32 years, retiring in 1989.

The club thrived for several years while gaining the reputation as one of the most friendly, fun curling rinks in the Valley. In 1981, after 24 years of good service, the “Quonset-hut” was replaced with a new modern facility, which was leased from the Municipality and located beside the hockey arena downtown.

In 2000 the Golden Ears Winter Club moved to its third location near the Albion Fair grounds in a partnership with the District of Maple Ridge and Planet Ice(RG Properties). The new curling facility is unique to any other club as it has 3 short training sheets at the far end of the building. The sheets are used by the younger juniors in the Junior programs as well as Elementary school groups. Often you will find high performance curlers working on various aspects of their deliveries. Curl BC has hosted a couple of Curling Camps at Golden Ears taking advantage of the training sheets.